Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (Nasdaq: MCRI) (the "Company") capped an all-time record year as a result of its record fourth quarter ended December 31, 2004.

The Company generated a fourth quarter record $3.9 million net income, or $0.41 per diluted share, on net revenues of $31.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2004. The fourth quarter net income was a 118.2% improvement over the Company’s previous fourth quarter record of $1.8 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, set in 2003. Net revenues also beat the previous record 2003 fourth quarter net revenues by 10.4%. The record quarterly net revenues were driven by significant increases in the Company’s casino (+10.3%), food and beverage (+11.6%) and hotel (+12.4%) revenue centers. Total operating costs and expenses increased only 1.6% over the 2003 fourth quarter, leading to strong margin improvements across the board, and a 76.7% increase in income from operations in the fourth quarter of 2004 compared to the same period in 2003. The improved margins also led to record fourth quarter EBITDA (1) for the Company, which reached $7.8 million, a 26.0% improvement over its previous fourth quarter best EBITDA (1) of $6.2 million achieved in 2003.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004, the Company also set new all-time records in net income, earnings per share, casino revenue, hotel revenue, net revenues and EBITDA (1). Net income for the year was $16.5 million, or $1.76 per diluted share, on net revenues of $129.5 million. The record net income represented a 72.0% increase over the Company’s previous record net income of $9.6 million, or $1.02 per diluted share, on net revenues of $116.0 million, set in 2003. Significant increases in the Company’s primary revenue centers of casino (+12.2%), food and beverage (+8.2%) and hotel (+14.5%) led to the record net revenues. Furthermore, promotional allowances increased only 7.9%, leading to a 67.1% flow through of incremental net revenue to income from operations. Total operating costs and expenses increased only 4.5% in 2004 compared to 2003. The combination of increased revenues and cost containment resulted in a significant EBITDA (1) margin improvement of 24.2% in 2003 to 27.7% in 2004. EBITDA (1) for the twelve months ended December 31, 2004, reached a record $35.9 million, a 28.2% improvement over $28.0 million EBITDA (1) for the same period a year earlier. The Company also benefited from a 40% reduction in interest expense over the previous year due to principal paydowns on bank debt balance and lower applicable interest rates.

Commenting on the Company’s success, CEO and Co-Chairman John Farahi said "We continue to benefit from strong local population growth, especially in south Reno, a superb location, increased bookings at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center next door to our Atlantis Casino Resort, and a dedicated and experienced management team. We are committed and continue to aggresively update and renovate our facilities, products and services in order to keep the Atlantis fresh and appealing to our guests. Our increasing revenues, combined with our cost controls has led to exceptional flow through to our free cash flow, which we are using to rapidly pay down debt." At December 31, 2004, the Company’s outstanding bank debt was $32.4 million, a 31% reduction compared to $47.0 million at December 31, 2003.

The Company also announced today that its 2005 Annual Meeting of Stockholders will be held on Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 10:00am local time, at the Company’s Atlantis Casino Resort, 3800 South Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada. The record date for stockholders entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting is Friday, April 8, 2005.